After months of house-hunting, Premier Yu Shyi-kun finally picked the former residence of late chief of the general staff Peng Meng-chi (
Yu and his wife, who have been renting an apartment on Hsinyi Road since Yu was appointed secretary-general to the president last October, must vacate their old residence in two months so his successor, Chen Shih-meng (
Guiding reporters and photographers through Peng's former residence yesterday afternoon, Cabinet spokesperson Chuang Suo-hang (莊碩漢) said that the Cabinet plans to spend over NT$1.5 million to fix the roughly 1,000-ping complex located at the intersection of Chinhua Street and Lishui Street in downtown Taipei.
"The reason why the premier favored this place is because there isn't any rent involved and the decoration and restoration fees are low," Chuang said.
There are four buildings and a swimming pool in the complex. Yu will stay on the second floor of the building, which is in the best condition and requires the least amount of restoration work.
Preliminary costs estimated for the building are NT$670,000. To save money, the premier will bring in his own furniture and the swimming pool will be neither fixed nor used in the future.
Thirty-seven members of Yu's entourage and security guards will stay in two of the buildings, while six more will stay on the first floor of the same building where Yu and his wife will live.
Preliminary restoration fees for the two buildings are estimated at NT$840,000.
The fourth building, which is next to the pool, will be left as is. The restoration expenses of this building are estimated to be in the millions of dollars.
The Cabinet has managed to lease the complex free of charge from the Taiwan Provincial Government and National Property Bureau under the Ministry of Finance, which have been the legal owners of both the land and buildings since 1994.
The house has been used as a temporary residence for Taiwan Provincial Government officials since Peng's death in December 1997.
Peng, who served as the commander of the Kaohsiung Fortress (
Yu had originally considered three other possible locations. They failed to win Yu's endorsement, however, because of high rents, limited space or the high costs of restoring the properties.
The house had been recommended to Vice President Annette Lu (
Yu, who served as secretary-general to the president at the time and was in charge of Lu's housing budget, opposed the proposal because of the high restoration and decoration fees -- estimated at NT$100 million.
Housing has long been a problem for high-ranking government officials, including the vice president and the premier. Chang Chun-hsiung (
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS